It's as good or better than Vesperia depending on your personal opinions but it's an S tier tales.
The combat is fast and snappy with 0 loading times, you can edit the party appearance for fun.
The way the story it's told is simple and engaging so you don't feel overwhelmed.
There are minigames with nice rewards and a weapon crafting system it has so much goodies inside to keep you playing and I love it! 10/10 no less than 100 hours of fun!

good game

A bit of history. Tales of Symphonia for the Gamecube was my first "Tales of" game. I had purchased it due to the lack of games for the Gamecube. Back then, I was not really into playing JRPG games, but playing Tales of Symphonia was still fun -- even though I was playing the game more like a hack and slash game (ie. button mashing), while just giving Raine and her brother all the related weapons/skills that I found (with no optimization). My thinking was, enhancing the "healer" and the long distance magic user, should help out the team, and hence, help during battles. Tales of Berseria was definitely an impulse purchase, from the Steam summer sale of 2024, and fueled with a bit of nostalgia from owning/playing Tales of Symphonia. Anyway, for this playthrough and review, I attempted to play this game as it was intended -- trying to learn all the features, to see if I can enjoy this game as a JRPG game, instead of as a hack and slash game.

The story (and characters). I was really impressed with the story of Tales of Berseria. It was much more memorable than Tales of Symphonia. During the game, I was highly focused and interested as the story unfolded -- even in the many long sections where there were only exposition. The characters were definitely different than Tales of Symphonia. They weren't really good people. They don't really have altruistic motives. And they are conflicted, both internally, and some with each other. Basically, you are playing the bad guys (or arguably, the anti-heroes) -- which for me, are very interesting characters to play. The story (and characters) will keep you highly interested.

The battle system is incredibly satisfying. You can configure your (and your team member's) moves/combos. You can choose (and upgrade) your (and your team member's) weapons. You can configure the AI strategy for your team members. You can control which team member are used in battle, and which one you control. And most importantly, the battle itself feels incredibly satisfying -- and you can really enjoy playing it as a hack and slash. This final reason provides huge incentive to go through all the team customization/prep work -- basically, the better you optimize your team prior to battle, the better your team feels in battle.

On the other hand, sometimes, when you go into a battle, it will feel like you are doing no damage. And it does feel a bit weird to stop and examine the situation -- if you are just trying to play it as a hack and slash. You can stop to take a look at your enemies to examine weaknesses. You can stop to configure your moves to take advantage of your enemies weakness, and even change which enemies you want to target (this is mainly for the camera system, as you are technically fighting all enemies at the same time). During battles, you can stay defensive (by guarding) in order to increase soul gauge (by side stepping), in order to be able to use some more powerful artes. You can also go aggressively offensive (by using a break soul) while sacrificing some soul charge energy. The game really encourages you to use your soul resource wisely, and not just play it as a hack and slash.

The weapons upgrade system is definitely much more complex than Tales of Symphonia. You can find (or buy) new weapons to use. You can enhance your current weapons (which would need supplies, that you can obtain by the dismantle of unwanted weapons). And you can also master weapons as you use them. This means that you need to find a balance of obtaining, enhancing, and using of equipment -- as switching equipment means that you have to master new equipment, or even dismantle previously enhanced equipment. Other systems such as titles, fashion, scouting, and cooking are also available. These systems aren't as complex, but add to the game, so, they are all definitely worth a try.

The tutorial system is ridiculously thorough. Admittedly, I consider this the best feature of the game -- as I tend to get bored (and even confused) easily. Having a tutorial that hand held you through it, in a way that taught you what you need, when you need it -- while not being boring (or overwhelming) is not an easy task. It takes you slowly (for a least a few hours), teaching you different elements, and then allowing you to try out the elements for quite a bit, before introducing the next one. Later, while you are playing (and thinking that you have learned everything), it will still be introducing new elements. Surprisingly, at more than a dozen hours into playing the game, it introduced the ability to substitute characters during a battle. This may sound late, but it does makes sense -- earlier in the game, there isn't a need to switch characters (as there isn't enough characters for substitutes), nor is the player comfortable with enough characters yet.

As mentioned, with this game, I decided to optimize all team members -- even to the point of playing with each character to get a feel of it. Interestingly, while this is a good idea, I don't think that I went all-in with the concept. The reason is, I have a certain playstyle, and while playing as the "healer" may be interesting, it just isn't what I generally like to do. In the end, I did try each character to see their abilities, but did have to eventually trust the AI to use the correct moves/combos. Not only can you configure the AI, it also comes with some decent defaults -- that when looking at certain characters, after trying them out, the defaults seems to be fine.

In my opinion, one of the reasons that certain players prefer hack and slash games over JRPGs, is that it is mindless fun. On the other hand, players like RPGs mainly because it is deep, and it is the micro-management of the whole system that is fun. So... was it fun? Yes, even if you just want to play the game as a hack and slash. I really liked playing with many of the JRPG elements/systems, characters, etc., but thought some of the systems were likely not needed. Regardless, I liked that I can do as much (or as little) as I like -- meaning when I found a system that I liked, I can go as deep as I liked, and ignore parts that I didn't, or even ignore certain systems altogether (trusting the AI and the defaults). This game is fun for both types of players (RPG vs hack and slash), and every type in-between.

Did I completely succeed (with playing as a JRPG)? Well, yes and no. I did get a look at many of the JRPG elements, and quite enjoyed it. And I did try some elements that I didn't go too deeply with. In the end, I tailored the game for me -- and interestingly, if I want to play this game again, I can also try to play with some of the elements/systems differently. This means that there may be good replay value to be found here.

Unfortunately, I do have an issue regarding this game. It is way too easy to get lost. There were many long periods where I had no idea where I am supposed to go. You do see the final destination on the map (not always though), but may have no idea how to get there (as it hasn't been visited yet). Also, the route for many tasks are ridiculously long (and with lots of backtracking), so getting lost can be a large waste of time. This would be somewhat acceptable, if the movement was faster, or if the warping was much more useful. The game does improve both of these features greatly (especially when bottomless bottles were added), but, it is still annoying.

In conclusion, I highly recommend this game. It has all the elements that make JRPG games great, and yet, it has a battle system that can be played with all the rich complex elements, or simply as a hack and slash. It has many characters, that you can play as, or all of them (if you are willing to constantly switch between them). And it has many other elements/systems that can enhance your gameplay, or be completely ignored (saving for a replay, if you like). Most importantly, it is a fun game, that will keep you constantly engaged.